Feelings Misunderstood? or Brought to the Surface?
by Witty Sarcasm
Summary: Sarah thinks Will is cheating on her and so takes Annabelle to Miami for a month. Will, not knowing where she is in Miami, stays with the Autobots. Perhaps feelings will be brought to the surface? Hide/Lennox? Might up rating because of soldier language.
1. Chapter 1

Lennox came storming into the base, his face red. 

"Argh! That woman! There are some days I wish we never met!" he yelled to no one in particular. Sam, in the kitchen attempting to find something to drink other than energon, peeked his head around the corner what was commonly dubbed the living room.

"Lennox?" he questioned in disbelief, "I thought you were in Miami with Sarah and Annabelle!" The captain looked over at Sam and snorted.

"The blasted woman left without me! I had left her a voicemail saying 'Hide and I were looking into the possible landing sites of a few more Autobots and that I'd be home as soon as I could. Instead of a least calling me to bitch me out, she leaves me a note! A fucking note, Sam, that said, 'Sorry you're too busy with your Loverbot to take a bloody vacation with your real family. We'll see in you in a month...at the earliest.' There wasn't even a phone number or address of where she's staying! My daughter is on the other side of the damn country and I can't get a hold of her mother!" Sam cringed as Lennox dropped heavily into a nearby human sized Lazy Boy.

"Maybe your wife thinks that your having an affair with someone or something," Sam suggested, trying to understand why Sarah would get so worked up over Will checking up on Autobot business with Ironhide. Lennox grumbled something under his breath. Sam frowned.

"What was that?" he asked. Will glared up at him.

"She does," he hissed. Sam's eyes grew so wide that, if he wasn't so pissed at the moment, Lennox would've laughed.

"Who does she think you're cheating with?!" the teenager demanded. Again, Lennox mumbled something under his breath.

"I can't understand you when you mumble," Sam sighed, having a weird sense of parenthood at the statement. Man, did his parents have to go through this with him? Lennox gave a sigh of his own.

"Sarah thinks that I have a...thing for Ironhide," he repeated.

"What?!" Sam's screech was deafening. Will's glare hardened.

"Yea," he said acidly, "my wife thinks that I have an intimate relationship with my GMC pickup that just so happens to turn into a giant, weapons specialist robot." Sam shook his head.

"She's crazy," he murmured. Suddenly, remembering what Lennox had said the note read, Sam's eyes widened even more.

"How did Ironhide take being called a Loverbot?" he asked the slumped form of Will. The captain seemed to slump even more.

"He doesn't know," he muttered miserably, "and I'm not exactly in a rush to tell him." Sam gazed at Will in sympathy.

"You should tell him, Will. He has a right to know." Lennox laughed dryly.

"How do you propose I tell him, hmm? Just walk up to him and say, 'Oh, by the way, my wife thinks that you and I are lovers and are having an intimate relationship'. Yeah, that'd go over real well. I'd be a puddle of bodily liquids before I could blink." The military man heaved another great sigh and stood.

"I'd better get going. Don't want Ironhide to catch up with me. I tried to ditch him in a taxi a while back. He already suspects something is the matter. I was completely silent with him; up until the time I ditched." Sam grinned.

"You? Silent? For more than ten minutes? No wonder he thinks something is up," he joked. Will smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes.

"Thanks, Sam. I appreciate you listening to me." Sam's smile faded and he nodded his head.

"Anytime, bro." His face suddenly brightened.

"Hey, why don't you stay here?" he suggested. At the captain's raised eyebrow, Sam hurriedly explained, "If you stay here, you won't have to go home to an empty house and I'll be around to listen to you whenever. I stay here most of the time anyway; Optimus thinks it's safer than my house." Will shook his head.

"I'm trying to avoid Ironhide, not trap myself in a base with him." The brown haired teen grinned.

"He could trap you anywhere, Will," he pointed out. "At least here you have backup." Will smirked,

"True. But 'Hide would also have backup. That's all I need; three more robotic beings trying to get me to talk about something I don't want to talk about. Good plan, Sam," he said sarcastically.

Sam shurgged off the sarcastic comment and instead inquired, "Will you stay?" Lennox opened his mouth to reply when a black GMC truck roared through the bot sized door of the base. Involuntarily, Will flinched. Damn. Transforming before he even made it to a complete stop, Ironhide leaned down to be on a more equal level with the captain.

"Why the hell did you run away, Captain Lennox?" the Autobot demanded. Will thought for a moment. Could Autobots tell when you're lying? He certainly hoped not, otherwise he'd be screwed.

"I was trying out a new military strategy. Dodging and evading," he finally answered. Ironhide's optics narrowed to slits. Will was lying. His heart rate had sped up considerably and he looked entirely too uncomfortable with the situation. Opening his mouth to respond, Ironhide was suddenly cut off.

"Hey, Ironhide," Sam spoke up, "did you know that Will here decided to stay here at the base for awhile? He thought that since Sarah and Annabelle were out of town, he'd hang out here with us." Looking over at Will, Sam almost paled. The glare the captain was sending his way could've made hell freeze over. Ironhide watched the exchange between the humans as he straightened up. If Lennox was going to be staying at the base, the Bot would have plenty of time to drill him on his apparent anger earlier that day. Deciding that finding Will later, perhaps when his guard was down, would prove more successful, Ironhide grunted.

"Well, since the captain here will be staying with us for a while, I'll leave you two to let him get settled in." With that said, the black weapons specialist turned and walked down the hall towards the med bay to have Ratchet check up on his cannons. Letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, Sam turned to Will. Will's glare grew frostier, if that were possible.

"Some backup you turned out to be," the captain growled. Sam backed up a step.

"Hey! I got him off your case, didn't I?" he asked indignantly. The captain crossed his arms.

"He'll be back and thanks to you, I am scheduled to stay here for a month!" Sam followed the captain's example and crossed his own arms.

"I helped you out back there, man! If I hadn't said something, Ironhide would still be here questioning you on your "military strategy". I saved your life!" he argued. Lennox shook his head fiercely.

"No! All you did was prolong my misery!" he seethed. Sam let out a defeated sigh and uncrossed his arms. This conversation would get them nowhere. Except maybe two examining tables in Ratchet's med bay...

"Let's just drop it, okay? You're stuck here for a month, so you might as well get settled in. I'll help you find a human sized room close to mine," Sam said with authority, beginning to walk down another hall. Will followed Sam's form with his eyes before slumping slightly.

"I hate you," he mumbled.


	2. The plot thickens

After settling in, as well as Lennox could considering the circumstances, the captain trudged slowly to the kitchen area. He and Sam had found him a suitable room, right down the hall from the teenage boy's. Unpacking had been a breeze, due to the fact that Will had nothing to unpack. Storming out of his house hours earlier, Will's mind had not been overly concerned with grabbing a months' worth of clothes. Hell, he didn't even know he was going to be gone for a month! And he couldn't have anybody go get him clothes. The Autobots' holoforms would undoubtedly find the note Will had so carelessly thrown back down on the dining room table and although Sam already knew, Will didn't want to risk Bumblebee finding out. The Autobots kept nothing from each other. The thought occurred to the captain to ask Epps or another soldier under his command or to even do it himself, but he quickly dismissed it. The last thing he needed was his men finding out his wife thought he was cheating on her with a robot and Ironhide would undoubedly go with him, should he go himself. The stunt Will had pulled with the taxi had pretty much sentenced the captain with a permanent Ironhide escort. At least for now. 

"This month is going to suck," Will groaned, dropping into a chair that was pulled up to a low table.

Outside, a GMC pickup rolled up in front of the Autobot base. Running a quick scan on the building, Ironhide confirmed that only Will, Sam and Bumblebee were present. Optimus, Ratchet and himself had gone to the landing sites once again, to try and locate the bots that had crashed landed; bots that he and Will and been unable to find themselves. After a few hours of searching and scanning, Optimus declared the bots' homing devices were deactivated, if not destroyed completely, though whether the Transformers were Autobots or Decepticons was still undetermined. Sending the weapons specialist back to the base, Optimus and Ratchet had begun to head for one of the military bases in the area that the government had temporarily taken over. Once there, the two Autobots would pass on their findings, or lack there of in this case, to the government and try to assist the expected military search that would undoubtedly spring up in a vain attempt to locate for themselves the missing alien robots.

Figuring that now, with everyone but 'Bee and Sam gone, would be the best time to corner the captain about his suspicious behavior earlier, Ironhide quickly transformed and headed into the base in the direction of the room he had sensed Will in. Not for one minute did the weapons specialist believe Lennox had been practicing a military move. He wasn't stupid and his sensors didn't lie. The captain had been nervous and uncomfortable with Ironhide's questioning and in humans, that generally meant they were hiding something. Vowing to find out what was irking Will, the black Autobot tuned a few of his sensors to the military man, making sure he was still in the same room.

The feelings that came to Ironhide through his sensors made the bot pick up his pace. Despair, anxiety and a strong feeling of resignation radiated from the adult male. Reaching the room swiftly, Ironhide paused in the doorway, his worried gaze locked on the slumped form of the captain. His head resting on the table, face down, and his shoulders hunched, Will looked like a dead man. That didn't sit too well with Ironhide.

"You'll give yourself a neck ache if you stay like that much longer," the black bot finally said, not missing the way Will tensed up at his presence. So it was him that made the captain all uncomfortable? What the hell?

"Is there something wrong, Captain Lennox?" Ironhide asked after a moment, "You seem to not be yourself today." If possible, Will's body stiffened even more.

"I'm fine, 'Hide," he murmured, his head still on the table, "Don't worry about it." Said Autobot stepped further into the kitchen.

"You're not yourself," Ironhide repeated, "and I want to know why." Will finally raised his head, albeit hesitantly.

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. It has nothing to do with you," the captain lied. Ironhide's optics narrowed.

"There's something that your not telling me," he growled. "It's not in your best interest to lie to me." Will's head banged back down on the table with a resounding thud.

"So kill me already," he murmured miserably. "I'm as good as dead when you find out." The weapons specialist stepped even closer.

"Find out what, Lennox?" he demanded, fed up with the human's ability to dodge the subject. Will lifted his head and glared.

"Nevermind," he seethed, "Forget I said anything." Gears whirring, Ironhide's cannons folded out, though the captain noticed they weren't directly pointed at him. Just as the black mech opened his mouth to say something, 'Bee walked in.

"Captain Lennox, Sam wants to know..." The bot trailed off as he took in the situation.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "I didn't mean to barge in on something." Will visibly flinched.

"T-that's okay, 'Bee," the captain stuttered, something unusual for a man of Will's calibre. "What did Sam want to know?" Bumblebee looked from Ironhide to Will and back again, confused as to why the human looked defeated and the black Autobot had his cannons out.

"He just wanted to see if you wanted to go watch some t.v. show called "CSI" with him. He said it has killings and crime in it and that you might like it," the yellow mech responded. Will nodded, avoiding Ironhide's eyes.

"Yeah. That sounds like an interesting show," the captian said hurridly, "Excuse me." Ducking around the two bots' legs, Will jogged quickly to the rech room where Sam had told him the t.v. was.

"That kid really has good timing," Will muttered, casting a quick glance over his shoulder at the two mechs in the kitchen, now conversing in low tones. Shaking his head slightly and refocusing on his destination, Will sighed. Hopefully the CSI show would actually be interesting. Oh well; anything that got him out of that last situation was a welcome distraction.

Back in the kitchen, 'Bee cast a confused look at Ironhide after Will's hasty departure.

"Was there a reason why your cannons were out and pointing at the Captain?" the yellow Autobot questioned hesitantly. Ironhide turned angry blue optics in 'Bee's direction.

"They weren't pointed at Lennox," the weapons specialist ground out. Bumblebee sighed and shook his head.

"They were still out and they were pointing in his general direction. What is wrong with you?" Ironhide had a strange sense of deja vu at the question.

"I'm not the one that has the problem!" he exclaimed. "That damn Captain Lennox has been acting strange ever since we returned to his house after checking out those landing sites. He won't tell me what's wrong, and I can't for the life of me figure it out!" 'Bee looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Maybe it's a personal issue," he suggested finally, "You know, with his wife or something." It was Ironhide's turn to look thoughtful.

"Perhaps," he murmured, deciding to not mention the fact that Will seemed almost...afraid in his presence. He had, after all, told the black mech to kill him, seeing as how Ironhide would supposedly kill him anyway after he found out. Ironhide growled. Find out about what?! What the hell was so horrible that Will trembled in his presence but yet refused to talk about it?!

A hand on his shoulder startled the weapons speacialist out of his thoughts.

"You ok?" 'Bee asked him quietly. Ironhide nodded.

"Yeah, 'Bee," he replied, though his mind was elsewhere. "Thanks." Bumblebee nodded and turned to head out of the kitchen. He was almost out of the door when he turned back to Ironhide.

"If it is a personal issue with the captain," 'Bee advised, "and it doesn't involve you...don't involve yourself." Turning on his heel, 'Bee headed to the rech room to check up on Sam and CSI.

Ironhide sighed and dropped into a mech sized chair. Don't involve himself... Hmph. Easier said than done. The black mech was sure that whatever was bugging Will had something to do with him. But what? Going over the last 24 hours, Ironhide picked and prodded at this CPU, but nothing came to mind that could cause Lennox to become so...defeated. One moment he was fine and rattling on about going to someplace in Florida with Sarah and Annabelle, and the next, he was absolutely silent and ended up ditching the Autobot, using the excuse of a military technique. Growling under his breath, Ironhide stood. He would get out of Will what was bothering him...even if he had to dissect him to get it!

Looking at the clock on the far wall, Ironhide grinned slyly. Tomorrow, Will and him were going to go for a little drive.


	3. The Drive from Hell

**Wow...chapter 3!! Sorry it took me so long to update!!...had a brain fart! Thanks to all my reviewers!!! You guys really help me get motivated. :P**

**Now, on to the longest chapter I've written on this story so far:D Woot!!**

The next morning, Will stumbled into the kitchen, hunting for something to wake him up. Seeing Ironhide at a table talking to Ratchet, Will almost groaned aloud. It was way too freakin' early to dodge prying questions. Way too freakin' early. The captain thought about trying to sneak back out undetected, but quickly decided against it; right about the time he was suddenly picked up in a large metallic hand and brought in front of two azure optics.

"You're not looking too well this morning," Ratchet observed, his metal mouth sporting a frown. Will grunted sleepily.

"Good morning to you too," the captain grumbled irritably. Of course he didn't look good! After sprinting back to his room the night before, lest Ironhide catch up with him, Lennox had stayed up almost all night. His stressed and muddled brain had allowed him no rest and when he had snuck into the med bay and taken sleeping pills, his restless sleep had been plagued by freakish dreams. Will shuddered slightly, though the medic caught the slight tremor. His dreams...Sarah finally snapping and leaving him, telling him he could keep his Loverbot...Ironhide finding out and, in an outrage, leaving him too...all alone...he was all alone...

A large, metallic finger jabbed him out of his thoughts. Hard.

"What the hell?" Lennox exclaimed, rubbing his now sore chest and leveling a glare at Ratchet. The yellow mech glared back.

"Taking sedatives without a doctor's order or prescription can be dangerous," he said lowly. Will almost replied that everyone did it and that it happened all the time, but he figured it'd just get him into more trouble. That, and he would've sounded like a four year old. Ironhide stepped forward as Ratchet lowered the captain to the ground.

"Sedatives?" he growled. The medic looked from Will to the angry weapons specialist and back again.

"I'll be in the med bay," he stated, locking eyes with a tired, apprehensive Will. Ironhide waved Ratchet away impatiently while the poor captain watched his only escape walk away down the hall. Now that no other bots were around, Will was at Ironhide's mercy. This was going to suck...

Will turned slowly back to the black Autobot and tried to bravely meet blue optics; optics that were flashing in anger. Shit. All alone with "Loverbot". If taking unprescribed _sleeping pills_ was bad for his health, getting harassed by a two story robot that just so happened to turn into his GMC would be murder.

"Why were you taking sedatives?" Ironhide demanded. Will's mind, still encased in a fog of sleep, struggled to come up with a good excuse. Deciding that a simple, obvious answer would probably get him into trouble, yet not caring enough to try and come up with a good answer, Will shrugged.

"I couldn't sleep." The weapons specialist growled.

"I figured as much," he ground out, dangerously low. The fog around Will's brain began to slowly dissipate.

"Then why the hell did you ask?" he asked, frustrated and stressed _beyond_ what was healthy...by anyone's standards. He got more rest during a war. In a battle. _In hand to hand combat. _Ironhide looked down at the human thoughtfully.

"It isn't healthy for a human to go without sleep," he replied slowly. Captain Lennox rolled his eyes.

"Hence the _sleeping _pills," he retorted hotly. "They make you _sleep_." Will could feel the black mech's growl shake the floor he was standing on and took a wary step backwards. A pissed off two story robot wasn't exactly what he had in mind when he had stumbled into the kitchen for something to wake him up...but it was sure as hell working!

Completely awake now, Will watched a bit nervously as Ironhide transformed into his truck mode, the metal plates slamming into place. Damn, he was pissed. As soon as the metal plates were secured in place, the passenger door swung open so hard that Will feared it would come off it's hinges and crash into him.

"Get in," Ironhide's guttural voice ordered. Although every cell in Will's brain wanted to quietly follow directions to avoid upsetting the bot further, his body had other ideas.

"Fuck no!" the captain retorted, his mouth spouting out whatever first came to mind. "You're pissed as hell right now! At me! There is not a damn chance in hell that I'm going to willingly trap myself in your cab and let you just drive off with me somewhere!" Will, who had been slowly taking a few steps backwards as he talked, suddenly spun on his heel and sprinted towards the base door. He knew he was just running away, but without any kind of weapon or means of self defense against a two story tall bot, he really didn't have any other choice. Besides, he knew he couldn't have fired on Ironhide anyway, no matter how pissed the Autobot was.

Behind him, said Autobot's engine suddenly roared to life and the smell of burning rubber reached Will's nose as the GMC peeled out after him. Oh, shit... Looking in front of him, Will could make out the door and sped up, running as if the devil was on his heels. Which, in a sense, he was. The captain could feel the pickup bearing down on him and then suddenly, it was speeding past.

Will quickly tried to stop as the truck braked, it's back tires locking up and skidding to a halt not ten feet away, blocking Will's escape. Will, not having an emergency brake for such a stunt and not being able to stop on a dime, finally slid to a stop a few inches from the driver's door. Immediately, the door popped open, though not with the force that the passenger side had just a few moments ago, knocking Will flat on his back.

"The hell, 'Hide?" Will groaned, struggling to get into a sitting position. The GMC stayed silent. The captain, once in a sitting position, eyed the massive pickup warily. A pissed Ironhide was dangerous, but a _silent_ Ironhide was deadly.

Will staggered to his feet as the driver's door slammed shut and the truck backed off a few feet. A silent Ironhide was also unpredictable. The GMC turned around to face the base entrance and once again, the passenger door sprung open.

"Get in," Ironhide repeated and Will could feel the undertone of danger in the bot's voice. Nodding a bit shakily, for the military man had no desire what so ever to get into a pissed Autobot, Will stepped forward. He was so done for.

'I'm gonna kick myself for this tomorrow,' the captain thought miserably.

As soon as Will had seated himself, the door slammed shut so hard the whole frame of the truck shook and the seatbelt fastened itself securely, if not a bit too tightly, around the rigid form of the human. Will realized he didn't need to wait until tomorrow to kick himself. Right now would work just fine.

Once again, the tires squealed as the truck peeled out of the base, this time with the human inside. Will's body tensed even more as weird and horrific death scenes began to play through his head. He had been a soldier long enough to come up with quite a few creative ones. Perhaps the reason Ironhide was so angry was because he had found the note... Will immediately discarded that thought as impossible. As far as he knew, the black mech had not left the base and if by some cruel joke of Fate's he _had_ found the note, Will figured he wouldn't have been alive at the moment. Hmm... Perhaps the Autobot was upset because of Will's sleeping habits? Perhaps he had drank a bad can of energon? Or maybe he just had it in for the military man. Whatever the reason, Will found himself not caring as they took a sharp turn way too fast. The captain's head smashed against the passenger window with a loud, sound thud. That one hurt...

"Are you alright?" Ironhide's deep voice asked, his tone not matching the caring nature of the question. Will, remembering the mech's fierce anger back at the base, didn't dare open his mouth lest something sarcastic escape. He just nodded. Ironhide had noticed the stiffness of the human in his cab as well as the fear that flowed slightly through Will. The black bot felt a twinge of regret for his anger and loss of self control back at the base. If only Will would tell him what was wrong! As long as Ironhide had been at the Lennox household, he had never know Will to take sedatives. Sarah either, for that matter.

The mech stiffened up, a loud rumbling echoing through his cab. Will pressed himself back into the leather seat. What'd he do this time?!

"How long has Sarah been gone?" Ironhide demanded, berating himself for not noticing earlier. All his attention had been completely on the captain. Will shifted uncomfortably.

"S-she and Annabelle left for Miami when we were gone checking out those landing sites," he replied quietly. The captain visibly winced at Ironhide's next question.

"Why'd they leave without you?"

To Will's immense relief, and Ironhide's annoyance, the captain's cell phone suddenly rang. Quickly grabbing it out of his jean pocket, Will glanced down at the name that flashed across the screen. _Sarah..._ And there went the relief; right out the damn window. Trying his best to make his heart rate slow down back to normal and his breathing even out so as not to alert Ironhide that something was wrong, Will answered the phone.

"Hello?" he questioned, not willing to say his wife's name in sensor range of Ironhide. The last thing he needed was the bot knowing who was calling. Unbeknowist to Will, Ironhide had noticed his body's less than calm reaction to whoever was calling and had tapped into Will's phone conversation. The mech tried to keep himself under control and appear normal and indifferent during the heated conversation, but had a few close calls.

"Will," came Sarah's short, tart reply. Said man flinched. She was still pissed at him?

"How are you?" Will asked, his voice surprisingly steady. Too bad that didn't last...

"We're good," came the reply, still short and tart. "How are you?" Will narrowed his eyes slightly. She was trying to trick him or something. Sarah Lennox never acted polite when she was angry... She _had _to be planning something.

"I'm...alright," Will finally answered, trying to keep his voice from betraying his inner suspicions. Listening in, Ironhide was growing increasing confused. Should not a married couple who were separated be happy to talk to one another? Instead, they were treating each other warily...like they didn't trust each other.

"How's Ironhide?" The truck suddenly lurched at the unexpected question, making Will drop the phone. Casting a wary glance at the steering wheel, Will quickly picked up his cell from the floorboard and hurriedly put it to his ear.

"Did you hear me, Will?" Sarah demanded over the phone. The captain cleared his throat.

"About Ironhide?" he asked, nervously, "Uh, yeah I did. He's good, I guess." Sarah made a low growling noise.

"No, the question I asked after that. The question I just asked you."

"Uh, no, Sarah," he replied, leveling a glare at the dashboard, "I dropped the phone." Sarah's scoff from the other end told Will he was not believed.

"Uh huh," she said hotly, "you just _happened_ to drop the phone when I asked you what you were up too. It seems to me that you just didn't have an answer for my question. You're hiding something from me, Will, aren't you?" Will sputtered for a second at the unexpected accusation.

"No, I'm not hiding anything from you!" he exclaimed, realizing too late that yelling something like that could raise suspicion. Ironhide however, had no desire to call him on it. He was too busy listening in for what Sarah would say next.

"Then what are you doing? How'd you conveniently _drop_ the phone?" she seethed. Will, growing frustrated with how the conversation was going, spouted the first, and unfortunately _true _statement that came to his mind.

"Ironhide suddenly jerked around and I lost my grip!" There was a tense silence from the other end of the line before the dial tone buzzed mockingly in Lennox's ear.

"Damnit," the man cursed quietly, hitting the redial button. He waited for a full ten seconds before the operator fizzled to life and told him to hang up. It was impossible to call back a pay phone. Will mumbled under his breath.

"That damn, conniving witch!" Ironhide, whose connection had been cut off as soon as Will's, stayed silent, processing and going over the eavesdropped conversation. So Sarah was mad at Will? What for? Going over the past two months that he had been staying at the Lennox household, Ironhide searched his CPU for reasons why Sarah had become upset. He came up with nothing.

"Is there a reason why you're so quiet?" Will growled to the truck. Ignoring the angry question, Ironhide asked one of his own.

"Is there a particular reason why Sarah is mad at you?" the truck shot back. The captain paled.

"Were you...listening in?" he asked fearfully. Ironhide's confusion spiked. What the hell was going on?!

"Yes," the mech admitted shamelessly. "You have nothing to hide, correct?" If possible, Will paled even more and his eyes grew hard. Reaching down, he tried to unbuckle the seatbelt but it held fast.

"Let me out," Will growled, glaring at the dashboard. The growl was thrown back at him.

"No. Not until you tell me what's wrong. That was the whole point of this drive." Will's glare could've frozen hell.

"You fuckin' _planned_ this?!" he yelled, his chest heaving and his eyes wild. "What, did you plan for my wife to call and bitch me out too?" The truck vibrated in barely contained anger.

"I planned this trip so you would have to talk to me, since you seem hell bent on keeping your problems to yourself!" Ironhide retorted, his voice booming through the interior of the cab.

"That's because they're _my_ problems! Not you, or any other bot for that matter, need to concern yourselves with them!"

A silence descended on the truck, interrupted only by Will's heavy breathing and erratic heart rate.

"Ironhide-" the human started finally, but was quickly cut off.

"Shh," the mech said sternly. "My scanners indicate that two cars are coming up fast." Will grunted, still pissed and still slightly afraid of what all Ironhide had heard and deduced from his talk, no, argument, with Sarah.

"They're probably just out for a joy ride," he sighed. "Just ignore them." Ironhide growled softly.

"They're coming up on my rear with too much of a purpose to be just 'joy riding'," he stated, focusing all his sensors to the back.

"Get out, Will," Ironhide suddenly demanded, cranking his wheel hard to the left. Will slammed up against the window, once again hitting his head, and unsuccessfully tried to open the door.

"It won't budge!" he reported to the mech. "I think it's jammed!"

"Why the hell would my door be jammed shut?" the Autobot demanded, struggling to keep from rolling as he rocked dangerously on one side from his speedy 180 degree spin.

"Oh, I don't know," Will replied sarcastically, "maybe when you slammed your door shut so hard your whole frame shook?" Ironhide's engine rumbled but he didn't reply.

"Hang on, then," he ordered as the front part of his truck began to transform. One of his cannons was halfway out when a small, yet deadly missile suddenly hit him broadside. With a deafening roar, Ironhide began to spin. This time however, he couldn't keep himself righted and soon him and the trapped Will inside rolled down the road's steep embankment.

Will's seatbelt had finally come undone, with no Ironhide to keep it stuck, and Will was smashed against the roof and the floor multiple times before finally loosing consciousness. As the black mech rolled down the embankment, not able to transform because of the captain, bullets and even smaller missiles kept peppering his framework. A dark haziness began to steadily creep from the corners of his optics under the constant fire. He finally rolled once more and then stopped, his truck form dented and sprayed with bullet holes. The darkness had almost completely overtaken him as he turned a few of his sensors on the unmoving body sprawled inside of him.

Fear flared up deep in his spark at the sight of Will's unnaturally bent body as the looming darkness finally engulfed him.

_"Will..."_


	4. Pain and Guilt

**Wow...it's been like what?...over a freakin' month since I last updated!! Soo sorry guys!! My muse left me, then returned, then school was hectic, then my comp crashed, then it was revived (after like 2 weeks), then I got sick so had a TON of makeup homework...and then I typed one of the longest run on sentences I've ever seen. Good fun.**

**Anyway, I've had a few reviewers saying that they thought that Sarah was overreacting or being a bitch. So, I will come straight out and say it. Yeah, she is. I've tried to keep people in character, but with a person who only had like what...5 minutes of screen time?...it's not going to be perfect! That, and keeping her totally in character would just kinda...kill the plot. Yeah...can't have that. But how about this: you guys review and tell me if you'd rather see Sarah and Will back together, no hard feelings, or if you'd like Sarah to stay away from Will so him and 'Hide can get together (totally rootin for that one!). As of right now, the ending is not set in stone, so I'd like to hear from you!**

**Okay, now that I've proved to the world (at least the world that reads fanfiction...) that I can be just as long winded as the next guy, enjoy chapter 4! And no, this is not the last chapter!...no matter how 'ending..ish' it seems. Ironhide may seem a bit...OOC...but I tried to keep him in character with this situation. I can guarentee you nothing like this happend in the movie, so easier said than actually done.**

**Okay, on to the horrendously belated chapter 4!!**

Pain shot through Ironhide as he slowly came back online. A groan slipped past metal lips as he tried to remember what had happened. He remembered taking a drive, though he couldn't remember why; only that it had been important. He vaguely remembered someone shooting at him and him rolling down the embankment. Racking his CPU, Ironhide tried to remember why he hadn't transformed and avoided the shots.

A picture of Will's face flashed across his closed optics.

"Will," he muttered, his optics snapping open as it all came flooding back. The drive...the gaining cars...the stuck door...the shots...Will's unmoving body...lying at an unnatural angle...

The black mech struggled to sit up, ignoring the pain that such an action caused. He had to see Will!!

"Will," he muttered again, this time louder and more forcefully. A yellow, metallic hand suddenly appeared and tried to push him back down, but Ironhide would have none of it.

"I have to see Will!" he said, struggling in vain against the other mech's weight. Ratchet growled at him.

"You don't have the right. He has been put to rest," the yellow bot said dangerously low. Ironhide suddenly stilled.

"Put to rest?" he demanded. Instead of answering, Ratchet turned his head slightly, indicating the large white sheet that took up a table in the far corner of the room and what looked like the shape of a body underneath. Turning burning optics back to the weapons specialist, Ratchet gave him a glare that could've frozen hell.

"Bumble Bee warned you not to involve yourself in Lennox's personal issues, and what do you do? You trap the man in your cab and go driving off, not even bothering to tell us of your intended destination! We waited for three hours for you to come back; hours that could've been spent saving Will's life!"

Ironhide flinched at Ratchet's truly spoken words. He hadn't meant to leave without telling anyone. In the midst of driving off with Will to hopefully get him to spill, giving out his intended coordinates had slipped the black mech's mind. If only he had told someone...

If Ratchet noticed Ironhide's misery, he didn't care.

"What were you thinking? The Decepticons are still lurking about somewhere and you've got the gall to take a human on a secret trip! I'll have you know that he died in _your_ cab, Ironhide. In _your_ cab."

That hit Ironhide hard. It was all his fault. The black mech's shoulders slumped and his optics dimmed. If only he hadn't taken Will... The captain had been scared shitless about getting into his cab, the cab he _died_ in...

A strangled gasp managed to escape Ironhide's throat before he could stop it. This sound of brokenness Ratchet seemed to relish and he continued to twist the knife of guilt.

"If I'd known where you were, I might have been able to get to him in time, but your 'secret drive' prevented that. If only you had left him alone..."

Ironhide slumped even farther, realizing the truth of Ratchet's words. Optics dimmed even more as Ironhide was overcome with guilt, but at Ratchet's next statement, the black mech's very spark seemed to falter as the will to live deserted him.

"Your meddling _killed _him, Ironhide," Ratchet whispered harshly, reaching for the guilty bot's chest, "_You_ killed him."

Ironhide looked up at Ratchet, a broken expression on his face and slowly turned his head over to where the body of Will was covered.

"I never meant to hurt him," Ironhide mumbled, his mind far off, his look distant. Ratchet growled.

"You not only hurt him, you _killed_ him. You should've headed 'Bee's advice and left the human alone." Ironhide looked up at the medic, his eyes foggy and unclear.

"Will wasn't just some human. He meant everything to me," the weapons specialist confessed. His admission however, only seemed to enrage Ratchet further.

"You need to go offline," the medic said viciously. Ironhide began to struggle violently with some sudden force of strength. He had to see Will! Ironhide didn't know whether he was going to pay his last respects or just make sure for himself that the fiery captain was gone, but he had to see him!

Ratchet's hands were now inside his chest and groping around for the wire that, when disconnected, would send any bot offline until it was reconnected. Ironhide's struggles became more forceful and in a last ditch effort to throw off the medic's hands, the black mech turned sharply on his side.

It had the desired effect, wrenching off Ratchet's hands as Ironhide plummeted to the ground with a roar...

Ironhide bolted upright with a start, still in mid roar. Azure optics wide, the weapon specialist looked frantically around the med bay. The lights were dimmed and he was alone in the room. Glancing almost fearfully over at the corner of the med bay, Ironhide's look turned to confusion. An empty table greeted his optics.

Where was the body of Will? Where was the white sheet? Where was Ratchet?

Slowly sitting up, Ironhide tensed as he heard the sound of heavy footsteps getting louder, their pace quick and urgent. The door was suddenly flung open and Ratchet hurried in. Ironhide followed his movements with wary eyes.

"What the slag happened? Why'd you yell?" the medic demanded. Ironhide didn't answer, instead looking back over to the corner of the room where Will's body should've been.

"How long was I out?" the black mech's voice, scratchy and hoarse from disuse asked quietly. Ratchet looked down at Ironhide, his optic ridges furrowing in concern.

"You've been offline for about 3 days now. I just finished repairing you a few hours ago. You were really torn up bad..." Ratchet kept talking, but Ironhide was no longer listening. His CPU was on overdrive, trying to make sense of Ratchet's kind behavior towards him.

Didn't the medic want to send him offline? Didn't he kill Will? Ironhide concentrated back on the corner again, still not seeing Will's body. Perhaps they had given Will a proper burial while he was offline...

"Ironhide," Ratchet interrupted his thoughts, "What is wrong with you?" Ironhide finally looked Ratchet in the optics, tearing his gaze away from Will's corner.

"Where'd you put him?" The medic raised an optic ridge in confusion.

"Put who?"

Ironhide sighed, "Will. What'd you do with Will?" Realization dawned on Ratchet's face.

"Oh! Will's in a spare, human sized room after we moved him out of here. He was pretty beat up, but I did what I could," the medic said nonchalantly, cocking his head slightly at Ironhide's sudden glare.

"What?" Ironhide turned away from Ratchet's questioning optics, his spark throbbing painfully.

"Why are you so calm, so detached about speaking about the dead?" the weapon specialist whispered brokenly. Ratchet looked at the hurting mech in immense confusion.

"Dead? What dead?" Ironhide growled lowly in the back of his throat. He was not in the mood for mind games! What did Ratchet want? A confession?! Fine. He'd confess.

"Will. He's dead. I killed him. What'd you do with his body?" Ironhide spoke in terse, clipped sentences. Ratchet looked down at the weapon specialist incredulously.

"You killed him?" he asked in confusion. "I think...you might be mistaken, 'Hide." The black mech closed his optics painfully at the nickname that Will had always called him and shook his head. He'd killed his human.

"Can I see him?" he asked finally, making a move to get up. Ratchet looked Ironhide over; thoughtful.

"I think...that would be best," the medic said slowly, processing the weapon's specialist behavior, though it ended up making him more confused. Moving to help Ironhide stand, Ratchet was taken aback at the black mech's visible flinch. His CPU even more muddled than before at the strange behavior of Ironhide, the medic obligingly stepped back and let the weapon specialist steady himself. As soon as Ironhide's optics met his own, Ratchet nodded and headed out of the med bay towards the room in which Will was placed.

The walk down the hall was a tense one; neither of the Bots spoke, each absored in their own thoughts. Ratchet, growing increasingly worried and confused by the second at Ironhide's behavior, quickened his pace to Will's room. Perhaps when Ironhide saw Will, things would be settled.

Stopping suddenly at a door, the Ratchet turned to the weapon specialist.

"He's in there," the medic said softly, noting the defeated look in Ironhide's optics. The black mech nodded and stepped through the doors, opened by the code punched in the numeric pad.

The sight that greeted him made his spark squeeze painfully. There, lying on the bed, was what looked like a body covered by a white sheet.

Ironhide suddenly stopped his slow advancement forward.

"I think I've seen enough, Ratchet," the black mech said painfully. He turned back to the door and the medic that still stood out in the hall. The yellow mech shook his head.

"Go over to the bed, Ironhide," he commanded, his voice soft and firm. Ironhide's optics widened in horror and he was about to open his mouth to protest when Ratchet cut him off.

"Go over to the bed." Grudgingly, Ironhide did as he was told. His slow, heavy steps seemed to reviberate around the quiet room and all too soon, he was at the foot of Will's current resting place.

"Ratchet," he began wearily, turning towards the door, "Now that I've gone to the bed---" The black mech cut himself off. The door was shut and Ratchet was gone.

It was only Ironhide and Will...or what was left of the captain. Slowly turning back to the bed, Ironhide let out a pained sigh. He hadn't meant to kill the captain.

The black mech took agonizingly slow steps to the head of the bed. If he saw Will, peaceful in eternal stasis, perhaps he could get the memory of his fear, his unnatural body angle, out of his CPU.

That thought it mind, Ironhide slowly approached Will's head. To his surprise, and slight confusion, the militia man's head was uncovered and there was a small smile on his lips. What the slag? Wasn't the captain in pain when he died? And didn't the dead normally have their heads covered?

Deciding to honor Will by covering him properly, Ironhide activated his holoform. It would be much easier to cover him with human hands.

The tall, muscular holo reached down to grasp the sheet in large hands. Black hair fell forward and partially sheilded ice blue eyes; pain clouding their depths.

"I'm so sorry, Will," the holoform said softly, staring intently at the captian's face, "I never meant for any of this to happen." Pulling the sheet up over the captain's head, the holo began to fade out when suddenly, another human hand grasped onto its' wrist.

"'Hide?" a deep, sleep clouded voice questioned.

"Will?!" said Autobot asked, his optics wide, looking down at the hand that had slid out from underneath the sheet.

"Uh, yeah," the captian muttered, "You alright?" Ironhide, startled and shocked that his captain seemed to be alive, nodded dumbly.

"I-I'm fine," he stuttered, his optics not leaving Will's hand. "Why do you ask?" The captian snorted.

"You just covered my face with a sheet, dude," Will's voice, slightly muffled by the offending sheet, retorted sarcastically. "I've been alive since the day I was born and don't appreciate being treated like I'm dead."

The words were barely out of his mouth when the captian suddenly found the sheet ripped away from his face and two strong arms lifting him into a sitting posistion. The moment he was righted, the arms wrapped around his torso and head and his face was pressed into a hard chest.

"'H-Hide?" Will stuttered, miffed at the situation. In response, Ironhide's holo arms tightened around the captain.

"You're not dead," the holo murmured, relieved, "I didn't kill you." Will tried to pull back to look Ironhide in the face, but was kept in place by an iron embrace. Giving up on trying to distance himself, the captain rested against the strong being in front of him.

"Yeah, 'Hide. I'm alive. I always have been." He paused for a moment before asking quietly, "What happened to make you think I was dead?" Ironhide shifted uncomfortably, not really wanting to delve into the more...personal aspects of why he thought him dead. Some of the possessive remarks he had made to Ratchet about the captian, needed to stay between him and Ratchet.

"I had a...bad dream," Ironhide finally said lowly. Will nodded as best he could, pressed up against Ironhide.

"I think I know how you feel," he replied softly, "I had a few bad dreams too over the past few days. You gave us all quite a scare when you didn't come online for over three days." Ironhide pulled back slightly to look at Will.

"I was hit hard apparently," the mech said lowly, suddenly stiffening as the events of the drive came back to his CPU. Will nodded.

"And nothing happened to the two that attacked you, although Ratchet bitched them out for a good day and a half," the captian said smirking. The holo's arms tightened almost painfully around the human in its' embrace.

"They're here?!" Ironhide demanded. Letting go of Will abruptly, the holo fizzled out and the mech started for the door.

"Just wait 'till I get my hands on those two, whoever they are. I'll tear 'em apart so bad that Ratchet won't be able to discern the pieces!" the weapon specialist roared. Will's voice, full of amusement and mirth stopped the mech in his tracks.

"You may want to revise that decision, 'Hide," the human grinned. Ironhide growled.

"And why is that? Because you don't think I can take them? Last time I was unable to transform and fight back, but this time--"

"That's not what I meant, 'Hide," Will cut him off. "Once those two see you're up and runnin', they won't leave you alone. With only three other Autobots and three humans to prank, they get bored easily."

Ironhide slowly turned to Will.

"No," he muttered, horrified, "Not them." Will grinned.

"Yep. _Them._"


	5. The Twins

**Chapter Five**

"Sunstreaker! Sideswipe!" Ratchet bellowed, "When I get a hold of your afts…!"

Two laughing twin Autobots, one red while the other was a bright golden yellow, ran through the hallway from what was dubbed 'the Med Bay'.

"Guess he found our surprise, Sunny!" the red mech laughed as they tore around the corner to the rec room. Sunstreaker spared his brother a glance, his face plates arranged in a sly smile.

"Guess he didn't like it, Sides," he replied in mock disappointment. Tearing down the hallway, Sunstreaker suddenly stopped and backed up a few steps.

"Sunny?" his brother questioned, "Why are you stopping? Do you _want_ Ratchet to catch us?" The yellow Bot didn't answer, his attention instead fixed on something in the kitchen. Sideswipe walked up to his brother and peered over his shoulder.

"Is that the human that Ironhide had in his cab?" the red mech whispered in Sunny's audio receptors.

Sunstreaker nodded, "Yeah, it's Will." There was a pause as both mechs watched the man walking around the kitchen making what they assumed was breakfast; all with a slight limp.

"I feel bad about what we did," Sideswipe said softly, catching his brother slightly off guard. They both felt sorry. When they had learned that the truck they had fired on was an Autobot and not a Decepticon as they had originally thought, and when they had found out that the Bot was not kidnapping the human from the Autobots, but rather trying to get the human to tell him what was wrong, they had both felt extremely guilty.

"I feel bad too, but it wasn't exactly our fault," Sunstreaker said shortly. "We were damaged in our landings, had no idea where we were, had no way to contact the Autobots and then we saw a black GMC tearing down the road with a struggling human inside. What were we supposed to think?!" By this time, Sunny's voice had risen to a shouting level and had alerted Will that he had company. The militia man slowly turned to the two mechs in the doorway.

"Something I can help you guys with?" Will asked with a raised brow. He had only caught the tail end of the conversation and though it was only a few words, he could pretty much guess what it was about. Sunstreaker shook his head.

"No. We're sorry we disturbed you." There was an awkward pause as the three stared at each other. Will wanted to turn away and continue making his breakfast, but somehow sensed that these two weren't done yet.

He wasn't disappointed.

"We're sorry," Sideswipe suddenly burst out. Will opened his mouth to speak, but Sideswipe continued before he had a chance to take a breath. "We didn't know it was Ironhide we shot at and we thought that he was kidnapping you! We didn't mean for him to roll down the embankment or for you to get hurt, honest!" To Will's surprise, Sunny was vigorously nodding along with Sideswipe's earnest plea. From what he had learned of these twins over the past few days, they never apologized (at least not sincerely) and were always causing trouble, putting themselves first above others. And yet, here they were, apologizing for what had to be the tenth time in less than a week!

"I've told you a million times, guys: It's ok. I'm not angry at you. Or fearful of you," Will added quickly seeing Sunstreaker's mouth open. It snapped shut at his last comment. The two twins looked at Will, each other, then back to Will again.

"If you're sure..." Sideswipe said uneasily, not looking completely convinced. Will smiled.

"I've been sure the last nine times you asked me," he retorted. Sunstreaker shook his head.

"I still think we need to do something to make it up to you. And Ironhide. We _did _shoot him full of holes and put you in the med bay for a few days." Will almost groaned when he heard that. Somehow, Sunny had come up with the idea that he and 'Sides needed to make it up to Will and 'Hide; even though it was all an accident. Apparently, telling them, 'No, it's alright. You didn't mean to. You don't have to make it up to me.' wasn't working very well. Why couldn't they just accept the fact that he was fine, Ironhide was fine, and neither one of them was angry about what had happened? Well, Ironhide had been...pissed, but had dropped it when he learned of their reasoning.

"No guys. It's _okay._ I'm not angry, I'm not frightened, I'm _fine_. You don't have to make anything up to anybody...except maybe Ratchet for that prank it sounds like you just pulled," Lennox grinned. The twins grinned back and Will felt relieved. It seems like he got through to them. Perfect. Now perhaps he could turn around and finish cooking his breakfast.

"We're gonna make it up to you somehow, Will," Sunstreaker said suddenly, his smile fading. Will's smile fell too. Apparently he _didn't_ get through to them...

_'Damn stubborn Bots,' _Will thought with a mental groan. They just couldn't get it through their heads!

"We'll make it up to you and Ironhide," Sideswipe said this time.

"Guys, really, it's not necessary," Will groaned aloud. All he wanted was a little breakfast! Was that too much to ask?

"_Any reason why y__ou two are harassing my human?" _Ironhide asked over the Autobot comm link. Will raised an eyebrow at Sunny's sudden sly look, not able to hear the comm link conversation.

"_YOUR human?! Really, Ironaft, we had no idea!" _Sideswipe laughed out loud at the threatening growl that came over the communicator making Will uneasy. What the hell was so funny?!

"_If he is your human, Ironaft," _Sunny sent over the link, _"then he'd have some kind of mark from you on him. Or at least you'd hang out with him constantly like 'Bee and Sam." _A silence greeted Sunny's observation. _"Then," _the yellow bot silently continued, _"you won't mind if Sides and I have...a little fun with him, would you?"_

A loud growl suddenly resounded through the base and heavy footsteps raced towards the kitchen. Will's eyes widened.

"What the hell did you do?!" he demanded, not liking the smug looks on the twins' faces. Sunstreaker shrugged.

"We're making it up to you."

"Sunstreaker! Sideswipe!" Ironhide roared, "You slagging glich heads! Wait 'till I get my hands on your afts!" Sideswipe gave a small pout that Will found...fitting of the red Bot.

"We're getting that a lot lately," he told Will. Will snorted and rolled his eyes. _Wonder why... _The footsteps were almost at the kitchen and the twin's suddenly raced out the door towards the exit.

"Have fun, Will!" Sideswipe yelled over his shoulder as they transformed into their alt modes and raced out of the base.

Will groaned, throwing his hands in the air. "Why me?" he moaned, "Why does it always happen to me?" A minute later, Ironhide came screeching to a halt outside of the kitchen.

"Where are they?" he demanded, his form shaking slightly in what Will assumed was anger. The captain was growing even more confused. What the hell had happened? Was there a reason why he was always the last to know something that apparently involved him? On second thought, if it involved the twins and a pissed off weapons specialist...perhaps he didn't want to know.

"Uh..." he answered intelligently, not quite sure where the dynamic duo had disappeared to, "you just missed them." Ironhide gave the captain a glare.

"That much I figured out," he growled softly, his blue eyed stare pinning the man down. Will heaved a long suffering sigh.

"I think I'm too old for this shit," the militia man muttered, turning around back to the stove to continue with his breakfast. Maybe if he just ignored the mech, he'd just go away. A few moments of tense silence passed and then heavy footsteps entered the kitchen. Will looked over his shoulder at the doorway and found Ironhide moving in to stand only a few feet away.

"...Is there something you needed?" Lennox finally asked, a bit unnerved by the constant staring by the black mech. Ironhide didn't answer, just kept staring at the human in front of him. Blue optics narrowed as they detected the faint limp of the captain.

"Have you allowed Ratchet to look at that?" Ironhide suddenly demanded. Will started, almost dropping the plate of eggs in his hand and spun around.

"Let him look at what?" he asked in confusion. Ironhide gestured down vaguely at Will's leg, causing the man to look down as well. A few seconds passed as Will looked his leg over and then:

"...What about it?"

A low rumbling answered the question as Ironhide growled, "The limp, Lennox! Have you had Ratchet check out the limp?"

"Oh," Will shook his head, "No, I haven't." Ironhide's optics narrowed even further.

"And why not?" he demanded. Will scoffed, not really seeing the need to see Ratchet about something so trivial.

"I've had enough of the 'med bay' to last me the rest of my life. Besides, it's just a sore leg. Not that big of a deal." Ironhide opened his mouth to respond but suddenly went still. Will blinked confusedly.

"You alright?" Will asked, peering up at the stock still weapons specialist. Ironhide suddenly growled and Will cocked an eyebrow.

"What'd I do?" the militia man asked warily. Ironhide focused his burning optics on the captain in front of him.

"I'm gonna kill those slagging glitch heads the next time I see them," he rumbled dangerously and Will grinned.

"Ah. You just had a comm. conversation with them, didn't you?" he asked amused. Another growl answered his question. Will laughed.

"Those two must have a death wish," he mused. A thought suddenly occurred to him.

"Ironhide," Will began, locking eyes with the black mech, "did you happen to have a conversation with them via the comm. link before you came running in here?" Ironhide looked over at the captain slightly startled.

"Yes," he answered slowly after a moment. A pause then: "Why?"

Will's expression turned thoughtful.

"They just suddenly seemed sly and were both grinning like a couple of idiots," he explained and Ironhide's expression darkened.

"They planned it," he muttered in awed anger. "The little slaggers planned for me to get all slaggin' angry and come in here and...stay." Realization dawned on Ironhide. _Slaggin', conniving, thrifty, BRILLIANT little fraggers..._

Ironhide jumped to his feet and stalked out of the kitchen without so much as a backwards glance at the man he'd left behind. _Those little glitch heads **knew** that he'd stay and talk to Will...how much else did they know?_

Will watched Ironhide's back until it disappeared out of sight around the corner.

"Yep," he muttered, turning back to his breakfast, "I'm too old for this shit."


	6. The Plan's Beginning

**Thanks so much to all my reviewers! XD It's been awhile! -sweatdrop- This is what happens when you don't plan out the story BEFORE you upload. I'm making this stuff up as I go along and sadly, it's a little slower than I'd like. But here it is! Chapter 6!**

**Hope you enjoy! ...try not to hate me for long for the slow update! -angel halo-**

It'd been days since Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had 'helped' Will and Ironhide out. To their disappointment and frustration, their plan of getting the two together had been found out and was not working as well as they had envisioned. Hell, it wasn't working at all!

"Not worth a slag," Sunstreaker muttered darkly, glaring holes into the wall of the Twins' quarters. Sideswipe looked up from their newest video game.

"What's not worth a slag?" he asked in confusion, a bit worried at his brother's pissed look. Glaring azure optics met worried ones.

"Our plan!" Sunstreaker hissed, "It's not working worth a slag! Those two should've been together already! Our matchmaking's never failed us before." Sideswipe turned off his game to give his brother his full attention.

"Perhaps it will just take a little bit more time," he ventured, watching his brother's expression carefully. Sunstreaker growled at him.

"More time?! We've got less than a month and then Will will go back to his mate and sparkling. If we're going to get them together, it has to be in less than a month. We're not able to give them more time!"

"Well...what did you have in mind then?" the red bot inquired curiously. Sunstreaker gave a malicious grin.

"I say we step it up a notch."

Sideswipe's expression slowly morphed into an evil look that matched his brother's.

"What's our plan of action?"

* * *

Will sat in the t.v. room, absently flipping through the television channels. It'd been days since Ironhide had stormed out of the kitchen, cursing the twins to the Pit and back, and Will hadn't seem him since. If Will didn't know any better, and he was beginning to doubt he _did_, the military captain would think that Ironhide was avoiding him.

But, why would the fearless weapon's specialist be avoiding _him_, of all people? ...Given the circumstances, shouldn't it be the other way around? Shouldn't Will be avoiding the weapon's specialist?

Will sighed, leaning back in the chair. "Will...you are too damn old for this shit," he muttered aloud to himself, still absently flipping through stations.

"They say talking to yourself is a sign of insanity," a voice suddenly spoke from his right. The military man gave a start of surprise, the remote jumping out of his hands and sliding across the floor. He whipped his head to side, eyes narrowing at the culprit. Shaggy blonde hair fell hazardly over a set of piercing blue eyes that twinkled in mischief.

"Damnit, Sunstreaker! The hell is wrong with you?!" he swore, glaring at the mech's holoform.

"You were the one who jumped out of his skin," a voice said suddenly from his other side. Will started again, swearing quietly. He should've known where one twin was, the other was never far behind. Well, lesson learned.

"What do you two want?" Will asked warily, settling back into the chair. He looked from one to the other. Sideswipes' holoform grinned, identical to his brother, the only difference being his red hair.

"We just came to see how you were doing," he chirped, _far _too innocently. Will rose a dubious eyebrow.

"...That a fact?" he drawled, unconvinced. The Twin's faces fell.

"You mean you don't believe us?" Sunstreaker pouted. Will snorted.

"No. And rightly so, I think." Sideswipe's holoform looked around the room.

"Where's ol' Ironaft?" he inquired casually. Will crossed his arms and rose an eyebrow at the question. But he answered anyway.

"Who knows," he responded, just as casually, "I haven't seen him for a few days. Ever since your latest prank. Thanks for that, by the way. It's always nice to be ignored by someone for something you didn't do."

The Twins both felt a bit of guilt at that statement. But instead of convincing them that they should leave the two alone, it only fueled their desire to get the two stubborn males together. And they would, damnit. If it took the rest of the month. What the Twins wanted, the Twins ultimately got.

**:Sides:**, Sunstreaker sent over their private link, **:you stay here with Will. Convince him to let us be his guardians. I'm going to find Ironaft.:**

**:...Convince him to what? I thought we were trying to get him and Ironaft together! How will we do that if WE'RE Will's guardians?: **the red mech sent back in confusion. A mental sigh ran over the link.

**:Just trust me on this ok? It'll take too long to explain now. I'll let you in on the details later, alright?:**

A subtle nod from Sideswipe's holoform and Sunny's disappeared. Will craned his neck around the back of the chair in time to see the yellow Lamborghini peel out of the rec room.

"Where's he off to in such a hurry?" he asked, turning back around in his chair to face Sideswipe's holoform. Thin yet muscular shoulders rose and fell in a shrug.

"Knowing him, it could be anywhere. It's not like he tells me **every**thing," the mech grinned. He moved to sit cross-legged in front of the Milita Captain. There was somewhat of an awkward silence before Will cleared his throat.

"What did you guys want?" he asked finally. Sideswipe sighed quietly, mentally preparing for one hell of an acting job. He hated not knowing the full story.

"Me and Sunstreaker...we feel really bad about what happened," the Autobot began causing Will to sigh.

"I told you guys it was fine," he groaned, rubbing his hands across his face. "Why do you two keep beating yourself up about it?" Sideswipe inwardly smirked. He might be able to pull this off...even only knowing part of what was going on.

"I know you've told us that you're ok with it," Sideswipe murmured, his voice becoming soft and sad, "but we still feel bad about it. We just want to make it up to you." Will looked at the slumped shoulders and the drooping head of the holoform and couldn't help but feel bad for them both.

"Alright, alright. If I let you two 'make it up' to me, will you guys quit feeling so damn guilty?" he sighed. Sideswipe lifted his head, smiling at Will.

"Yes," he promised, "we will." The captain sighed again, but nodded. Anything to get them to quit blaming themselves...and bothering him about it.

"Alright. What did you two have in mind then?" he asked, leaning back in the chair. Sideswipe pretended to think for a few moments. If he came up with the answer too quickly, then suspicion would be raised. He and Sunny really did feel bad about what had happened, but unlike what Sideswipe had led Will to believe, the Twins did believe that Will had forgiven them. They just needed Will to think they hadn't. And besides, they were making it up to him by setting up him and ol' Ironaft. Though they couldn't remind Will of that.

"Would....would you let us become...your Guardians?" Sideswipe asked after a few minutes, injecting his voice with just the right amount of hesitance and hope. Will's eyes widened.

"I...what? Guardians? Do you think that's necessary?" he questioned. "I mean, I know Sam has 'Bee and Ratchet has taken Mikeala under his wing, but...a Guardian for me?" Sideswipe nodded with a small grin.

"Yeah, Will. A Guardian for you. Well, two actually, but two are normally better than one. Besides, you're going to be a target too if, or when, the Decepticons attack again." Will couldn't help but chuckle a bit at that.

"So you and Sunstreaker want to be my Guardians for when the Decepticons attack? There's...what, two of them left?" Sideswipe's grin faded.

"Three, possibly four, actually. From what I was able to gather from Optimus, Starscream has blasted off back into Space, but Barricade, Scorponock and possibly Frenzy are still here on Earth. Not to mention the many Decepticons that are somewhere out there in the Galaxy. But even the two that you are thinking of could be deadly."

Will nodded as it all sunk in. "Alright," he agreed after a few moments. Sideswipe's eyes widened.

"Really?" he grinned, inwardly rejoicing as well, "You'll let us be your Guardians?" Will chuckled a bit at the Bot's enthusiasm.

"Yeah, I will. But you've got to promise me that you two will quit blaming yourselves about what happened, alright?" Sideswipe grinned and nodded. They had already quit blaming themselves for it when Will had said he'd forgiven them. But...no reason to tell Will that, right?

"Alright! We promise," Sideswipe chirped, standing. He grinned. "I'd better go give Sunny the good news!" The holoform faded as the engine of the red lamborghini roared to life. Peeling out of the rec room, just as his brother had done awhile ago, the car quickly left the Militia man. Will watched the lamborghini leave with an odd expression on his face.

"Why do I feel as if I just waltzed right into one of their traps?"


	7. Guardians

**....Would any of you believe me if I said that I died, was cremated, then got resurrected and that's why I haven't posted in so long...??**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even most of the stuff in my room.**

_**Chapter Seven: Guardians**_

Sideswipe tore out of the room, and headed back to the quarters he shared with Sunstreaker.

**:He agreed, Sunny!: **he sent over their private link, **:Will's our charge now!:**Almost immediately, Sunstreaker responded back with a low chuckle.

**:Perfect. And I've just found ol' Ironaft. Be there in a bit, Sides.:** The link shut closed.

Sideswipe walked into their rooms and sat down in front of his video games. He really hoped Sunstreaker knew what he was doing...

------

Sunstreaker walked into the Med Bay to find both Ironhide and Ratchet as Ratchet gave Ironhide's cannons another check-up.

"Hiya, Ironman!" Sunstreaker greeted, "Heya, doc!" Ratchet rose a brow, but didn't say anything, instead going straight back to his work. Ironhide on the other hand, narrowed his eyes at the yellow lambo.

"You're just lucky Ratchet's wrench deep in my cannon right now, or you'd be in so many pieces, even Prime himself wouldn't be able to put you back together," the black mech growled.

Sunstreaker frowned. "Touchy, touchy. What's crawled up your aft and died?"

Ratchet cut off Ironhide's threatening rumble with a terse, "What do you want Sunny?" Instantly, the frown was off the twin's face and a sly grin took it's place.

"I was just coming in to ask if either of you had seen Prime. I have something that I need to inform him of."

Both Ratchet and Ironhide's optics narrowed.

"Prime doesn't have time for pranks, Sunny," Ratchet said disapprovingly. Sunstreaker snorted.

"I know. That's why Sides and I prank you." At the medic's dangerous glower, Sunny continued hastily, "But there really is something I need to talk to him about. About Will." Immediately, Ironhide straightened and tensed, blue optics flashing.

"What did you do to Will this time?" he snarled. Sunstreaker sighed at the assumption that he or his brother had done anything to the man. One time! One time they accidently hospitalize him and suddenly, they're both human-haters...

"We didn't do anything to him, Ironaft," Sunstreaker bit out. He purposefully relaxed to try and keep himself as calm as possible. Knowing Ironhide, there was going to be hell once the mech found out what Will had agreed to...

"Will has just decided to let Sunny and I become his guardians."

Ratchet froze and Ironhide tensed so much that Sunny was surprised his armor wasn't cracking off and falling to the ground.

"Will did what?" Ratchet asked aghast, turning to look at the now smug Twin. Sunstreaker grinned.

"Sideswipe and I asked if we could become his guardians and he agreed." Sunstreaker turned michevious blue optics to Ironhide. "So now, the captain is ours."

-----

Sideswipe looked up from his game as a loud roar shook the building. What the...? Suddenly their door burst open and Sunstreaker came steaking in.

"Time for us to go for a drive again," he said breathlessly, folding down into his car form and shooting off towards the door of the base. Confused, Sideswipe transformed as well and took off after his brother.

**:Sunny, what the hell did you do?:** There was a pause and then,

**:Weeeell, I may or may not have basically staked a claim on Will.: **Sunstreaker responded, a mixture of pride, arrogance, axiety and fear all mixed together in his voice.

Sideswipe gaped, sending a wave a deep shock across their bond.

**:You did WHAT?! Sunny, are you TRYING to get us both killed?! You know as well as I do that Ironhide has claimed Will!:**

Sunstreaker snorted, **:But the idiot hasn't and apparently WASN'T going to actually claim him! Saying you have a claim and actually having one are two totally different things, Sides.:**

**:I KNOW that! But going against Ironhide and having to challange him for Will....:** Sideswipe's frame shuddered. **:I'd rather not. Two against one or not, he could do some SERIOUS damage to us, Sunny.:**

Sunstreaker sighed.

**:I know. I was just trying to get him to realize that he has to make a move before it's too late.:** A pause and then,

**:So you think it worked?:**

**:SUNNY!:**

**-------**

Will started and slipped off the chair as a deep roar echoed through the building. "What in the name of...?" he trailed off as the yellow form of Sunstreaker zoomed past.

He paled slightly.

There went one of his guardians running like hell was behind him. A Deception attack perhaps? But that didn't sound right...there hadn't been any news of Decepticon activity for weeks... And though he was new to this whole 'guardian' thing, weren't his guardians supposed to come and protect him? No, a Decepticon attack didn't seem likely.

So what in the blue blazes was Sunstreaker running from?

Ironhide's black bulky frame came by the door next, cannons out and blazing.

"When I get ahold of your afts...," he growled, causing Will to scramble to his feet in a hurry. The milita captain had never heard Ironhide sound so...deadly before. Even a few mornings ago when they had gone for their drive from hell, he didn't sound as dark and dangerous as he did now.

Just what did the Twins DO?

Deciding that it would probably be smart to stay out of Ironhide's way when he was like this, Will quietly turned to go out the back way of the rec room.

"Will."

Too slow.

Lennox slowly turned to face Ironhide. The weapons' speacalist still sounded...deadly.

"Uh, hey Ironhide," he said slowly, smiling somewhat nervously. And who could blame him? He'd never been around any of the Bots when they were this mad. And he was reminded of how little and _fragile_ he was compared to them...

"You're afraid," Ironhide stated tonelessly. Will gave a nervous bark of laughter.

"Yeah, well, you sound pretty upset at...," he trailed off, not sure if saying Sunstreaker's name would start Ironhide off all over again. "So, I'll just get out of your hair for awhile; let ya cool down a bit."

Again, Will turned to go, but found himself spun around by a strong hand on his shoulder.

"I think we need to talk," Ironhide's holoform growled lowly, guiding the man to the bipedal form that was slowly shifting down into it's GMC counterpart.

Will paled even more.

"Eh, not to bring up old wounds," he said nervously, "but do you remember what happened LAST time I got inside your cab when you were pissed at me? It didn't turn out so well. For either of us."

Ironhide gave a chuckle that sent tremors up Will's spine. "But we aren't going for a drive. We're going to stay right here. And this time, I'm not angry at YOU."

Will opened his mouth to argue that he sure SEEMED upset, but snapped it shut with an audiable click. Despite the fact that he was grown man, he was actually a quick study. And he'd learned from last time, that pissing off an already pissed off Ironhide was NOT in his best interest.

So he let himself be steered towards the waitng GMC with a feeling of dread.

Where were his guardians when he needed them?

**Thanks so much for all the reviews! Especially shadow-blade tara who reviewed today and put me in the mood for writing!**

**Ha! Take THAT missing Muse!**


	8. Push til You Break

**Look at me go! Another chapter in the same year! I'm telling you guys, I'm on a roll! But don't expect anything else until 2013.**

**Kidding. You can put the weapons away now, kiddos.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned them, it'd take 3 years for the next episode to come out and 8 years for the next movie. Which obviously isn't the case. Aren't you guys lucky.**

Ironhide practically picked Will up and placed him in the cab before the holoform fizzled out. Will was tempted to make a run for it, but the sudden seat-belt wrapping around him constricting his movements, as well as his breathing, made him think twice about bolting.

'I can always come back as a ghost and haunt my 'Guardians' for letting me die,' Will thought ruefully. What good were guardians when they pissed off a Transformer and then LEFT you with him? It didn't really matter that Ironhide wasn't pissed at HIM...first of all, that's what they ALL say and secondly, that could change at any moment. And given their track record together, it was a definate possibility.

Perhaps there was a Surivor's Manual to this whole Guardian thing. He'd definately have to ask Sam. That poor kid had had a guardian longer than Will had known about these guys...

A light smack on top of his head caused Will to jerk back to reality, leaving his thoughts behind abruptly.

The military captain blinked before turning to his left. Ironhide's holoform stared at him intently from the driver's side, a frown marring his features.

"...Did you...did you just hit me?" Will asked in confusion, amusement bubbling to the surface and momentarily chasing the fear and insecurities away.

"I didn't **hit** you," Ironhide defended himself, affronted. As if he would do anything to purposefully harm his human...

"Then what would **you** call it?" Will asked with a rasied brow.

"I was simply returning your attention to me."

Will gave a small grin, "By hitting me."

The weapon specialist have a frustrated grumble, though it didn't stop the holoform's lips from quirking at the edges. He'd missed the easy banter between them...

Will, seeing the slight smile, gave an inward sigh of relief. Perhaps Ironhide wasn't on the war-path after all...

"Did it hurt?" Ironhide asked suddenly.

Will blinked at the question, while his brain struggled to switch topics. "...what?"

Ironhide gave an irritated huff. "When I...diverted your attention back to me. Did I hurt you?"

Will rose a brow. "When you hit me, you mean? Nah, it didn't hurt. Just...surprised me is all."

Ironhide's holoform scooted closer on the seat.

"You know I would never intentionally hurt you, correct, Captian Lennox?"

Will opened his mouth to say that he DID in fact know that, but sudden images flashed unbidden into his mind. Ironhide's door slamming open and knocking him to the ground...Ironhide not letting him go...trapping him with the seat-belt...Ironhide rolling down the embankment, Will still inside...Ironhide angrily chasing him down...Ironhide practically tossing him into his front seat...

"Yeah," Will croaked, "yeah, I know."

"You hesitated," Ironhide pointed out needlessly, his engine restricting in pain. His human...his _Will_ was afraid of him...that he would hurt him!

"I..." What really was there to say? Yes, Will had hesitated, but the past few days had been a blatent reminder to the military captian that these guys were powerful, strong, and _dangerous_. What was he supposed to do, supposed to think? He'd been scared more than once by Ironhide recently and his training was telling him to do away with the danger, to overcome it.

But how, exactly, does one 'do away with' someone like Ironhide? Especially when one doesn't want to?

A soft _click!_ made Will look down in time to see the seat-belt unhook itself and slowly travel back across him and to it's place by the door. The door too, made a soft sound and opened slightly, giving Will the chance to escape.

Lennox winced at his own thoughts. _Escape._ Since when did he feel like he couldn't be safe around Ironhide? When exactly did he begin to see being with the mech as being a hostage?

'Damn you, Sarah,' he thought wearily. If it hadn't been for her note...

But was that really the start of it? After all, she wouldn't have accused Will of 'cheating' if he hadn't been spending so much time with Ironhide. So was it really his fault then? Had he been enjoying his time with Ironhide so much that everything else had just...dropped away?

Will buried his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. When had his life become such a mess?

Ironhide looked at the captian sadly, his processor mentally berating him for pushing the man to this. Why couldn't he have just left things alone? Like Bumblebee had suggested? Like Will had asked?

Will...

**He'd** done this to the captain! To the only person on this rotting planet he gave a slag for! He'd pushed and pushed until this; until Will had finally broke.

And the worst part, all this pushing, all this fighting...and Ironhide still didn't know the reason for his human's discontent. Still didn't know what had been upsetting him for days on end.

Still didn't know how to help.

"Will..." he murmured quietly, his holoform's chest as well as his engine so constricted that he had trouble speaking. "Will, please..." He trailed off, not sure exactly what he was begging for. For understanding? For a chance to make things right again? For a sign that Will would forgive him?

The captain looked up, eyes tired and resigned, body slouched forward wearily.

Ironhide's spark gave a painful twinge and he scooted even closer to the man, hesitantly reaching out and placing a warm hand on his shoulder.

Will's body tensed briefly, not expecting the contact, before giving a shudder and becoming pliant under the holoform's hand. Ironhide slowly drew Will to him, trying not to test these boundries, but wanting, -needing-, to give the captain some sort of comfort.

He pulled Will until he was leaning heavily against Ironhide's chest, torso to torso, his head underneath Ironhide's chin, his legs curled up under him.

Strong hands moved up and down Will's back slowly, soothingly and Will found himself starting to drift off. The days of being on edge, of avoiding Ironhide, of keeping all his problems a secret...they were catching up to him.

"Don't leave me," Will mumbled tiredly, thinking of the way Sarah had left with Annabelle when she got tired of his antics. He couldn't loose another he...cared about. A small part of brain wondered just how much he cared about Ironhide, to be putting him in the same category as his wife, but the bigger part of Will's brain, the one weary and tired and comfortable and _safe_ feeling, lazily pushed those thoughts away and succumbed to the welcoming, rare darkness of a good, deep sleep.

Ironhide looked down at Will's slumbering body with soft smile.

"Never," he murmured, letting the drowsiness that had been lingering since he came back online slowly take over. His engine began to slow down, though his holoform stayed firm and solid, relclining back to lay down fully, pulling the captain on top of him.

"I'll never...leave you," he promised slowly, systems shutting down into recharge. "Never."

The lights inside of the pickup slowly died as the recharge cycle began, the thrumming of the engine quieting down to a soft hum.

Neither human nor mech were aware of the tendrils of blue light that slowly seeped from the holoform and the cab itself, making slow, lazy patterns before finally sinking down into the body of Will.

Only one saw the light and knew what to make of it.

Blue optics brightened slightly in happiness before the large mech softly moved from the doorwary and back down the hall.

'It is about time both of them were happy,' he mused as he sent a link informing Ratchet of what he'd seen. The medic was better at explaining these sorts of things.

But how long would it take the two to realize what had occured? There was only a few weeks left before Will's wife planned her return...

**:Thankfully,:** Ratchet's voice said suddenly over their comm link, :**we've got the Twins to...help them along.:**

Optimus grinned beneath his face plates. Yes, Ironhide and Will would realize what had happened soon enough.

He just hoped Will would accept it.


	9. Team Players

**...I dearly need to get some carrots, you know, to entice the plot bunnies to come back and visit me.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, so don't sue.**

**Oh, and FYI, apparently spellcheck is down as I'm writing this, (of course it is, right?), so any errors made are not because I'm too lazy to hit the button, but because the button's too lazy to work.**

**CHAPTER NINE: Team Players**

It was early morning, 2:47 to be exact, when the twins slowly drove back in through the base doors.

**:I blame you, Sunny, for making us stay out all night,: **Sideswipe groused as they quietly rolled through the hallway, engine's turned off. The yellow lamborghini snorted.

**:You'll be telling me how amazing I am once you realize that what I did was necessary and that **_**it'll work**_**,: **Sunstreaker shot back. He mentally sent out a prayer that it _would_ work. He wasn't lazy, but he wasn't exactly ambitious either and didn't want all this work, (dangerous work, when Ironhide was involved), to go to waste.

**:You know,: **Sideswipe said conversationally, though there was a hint of accusation in his tone, **:when I signed on with you to fight this war, I didn't realize we'd still be playing Matchmaker.:**

**:As if you don't enjoy it,: **the yellow one scoffed, stopping and slowly, and as quietly as possible, unfolding into his mech form. Sideswipe followed suit.

"I didn't say that," Sideswipe growled, "I just meant--"

"Shh!" Sunstreaker suddenly hissed. He jabbed a finger to their right where a black GMC was parked. Both twins stiffened, waiting for the mech to jump up and attack them, or at least yell at them and threaten them.

But the pickup didn't move. In fact, if it weren't for the low, almost inaudiable hum of the engine, the Twins would swear he seemed dead.

No reaction, no threatening, not even any shifting or turning of gears.

"Wow," Sideswipe murmured softly, "...we have good timing."

Sunstreaker, not taking his eyes off of the GMC, smacked his brother upisde the head with a solid _thunk._

A low chuckle from behind them made both twins jump and spin, automatically going into their battle stances.

Optimus Prime gave a grin under his faceplate, raising his hands in a teasing gesture of surrender.

"Glad to see your reflexes have not gone soft," the large bot rumbled, deep voice smooth and low. Sideswipe automatically straightened up, giving a sheepish grin. Sunstreaker, on the other hand, looked at Optimus a moment longer before he straightened up.

"Come to welcome us back home?" he asked with a curious head tilt. Prime looked at them both in amusement before beckoning them to follow him, heading down the hall towards the medbay.

The Twins followed warily. Nothing really good ever came out of their time in the medbay...

Ratchet looked up as the three entered, giving Optimus a questioning look.

"It was your idea," the leader said with a secret smile, optics flicking over to the Twins.

Realization dawned on Ratchet's face.

"I should never have mentioned that to you," he groaned in defeat as the Twins leaned forward, suddenly interested in where this conversation was going.

"Shouldn't have mentioned what?" Sunstreaker demanded.

Optimus gave Rachet what could only be described as a mischevious look.

"I'll leave Ratchet to explain it all to you," he said, exiting the medbay. Ratchet looked after him for a moment.

Whatever would come of Will and Ironhide, the medic was glad it was happening. It had been a long time since he'd seen the more playful side of the great Prime. Since before this war...

A red hand snapped it's fingers in front of his face, causing Ratchet to blink.

"Oi, Doc, care to pretend like we're here and tell us what's going on?" Sideswipe grinned. Ratchet huffed and gathered his thoughts.

How much to reveal...

"You two of both heard of the Pecinta Obligasi, the Lover's Bond, correct?" the medic finally asked. The Twins immediately brightened.

"You mean it worked?" Sideswipe asked in awe while Sunstreaker preened. Ratchet shook his head. What had he been thinking, mentioning bringing in the Twins' help for this?

"Not exactly," he responded, watching as their faces fell.

"What do you mean, 'not exactly', Hatchet?" Sunstreaker demanded. Ratchet bristled at the nickname, but didn't comment.

"I mean that Ironhide has unknowingly made the first step in that direction, but it is not certian whether it will go anywhere or even if either of them will notice."

At the Twin's confused looks he added, "His Spark has sent out energy into Will, late last night, that is currently making Will capable of the Pecinta Obligasi, a full mech bond."

"You mean...he'll be able to Spark Bond too?" Sideswipe asked with wide optics. Ratchet hummed in the affirmative.

"Yes, though he won't have a spark of his own. But his heart will have some energy of Ironhide's spark to make the bonding work between the two."

The Twins stared at the mech for a moment.

"I wasn't aware that was possible," Sunsteaker finally said quietly.

"Not many are," Ratchet said quietly. "Most medics are aware of most of the bonds, for we have to know their effects on soldiers and Prime knows as it is his duty to know much of the history of Cybertron and it's mechs. But most mechs don't have the faintest idea this bond even exsists.

"It is a strong bond, that ties two mechs together, in body, spirit and mind. It has been ages since the last recording of such a bond. It is dangerous for a soldier to make this kind of comittment to another as it can be used against the other bondmate, should one of them be captured. War did not give us...favorable considtions for it."

"...But, we're still in a war," Sideswipe pointed out, "so why would Ironhide start to claim Will with this sort of bond now?"

Ratchet sighed, scrubbing a hand over his faceplates. "I am not sure that Ironhide knows of this bond, but I am certain that he was in recharge when it happened. He has no conscious memory of his Spark engergy going into Will, just as Will has no idea what has happened."

The medic turned piercing blue optics onto the Twins.

"And that's where you two come in. If Ironhide is going to complete this bond, he's going to have to realize that it's been started. However, I fear that outright telling him about what he has done will only make him back off his claim. Though he does not _have_ to finish it, should he not wish to, Will's heart is already producing Spark energy. It will make him more of a target to Decepticons as it will call to them, and to us all, until he is claimed."

He sighed. This beginning of the bond was a good thing, but if handled the wrong way...

"In ancient times, when this bond was common in mechs, the Spark engergy sharing was used to claim and mark the submissive by transfering over some of the dominant's energy into the submissive. This gave others a warning that this one was already being courted. However, unlike Ironhide, the dominant already had a conscious, well thought out decision to mate with the submissive. It was already all planned out and this was just the first step."

"But Ironhide didn't consciously make this decision and so, if he backs out, the captian will be even more vunerable until he is claimed," Sunstreaker finished for the medic.

Ratchet nodded. "Exactly. Though if Ironhide does not finish the Pecinta Obligasi, his Spark energy will wear off eventually. Theoretically. As it was Ironhide's subconscoius mind that made this decision, there is no telling how long it will take his energy to disappear from Will, if it _ever_ will."

"...so what can we do to help?" Sideswipe asked determinately. Will was _their_ charge. He would be protected at all costs...even if they had to claim him themselves.

"At the moment, just keep doing what you're doing," Ratchet said with a small smirk. "Keep trying to get those two together with your matchmaking. Since you know what has happened, you should be able to play that up. Will and Ironhide will begin to feel an even stronger attraction to each other, though neither one will realize what is happening. Not at first. You two just need to...be yourselves and manipulate their feelings. Got it?"

Sunstreaker smirked at his brother. "Look at that... Ol' Hatchet giving us the go ahead to be ourselves... Never thought we'd see the day, 'Sides."

Sideswipe snickered at Ratchet's scowl.

"Out of my medbay," the medic ordered, pointing to the door.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe rose their hands in surrender, before bolting out the door.

Ratchet waited until the door and closed behind them before leaning back on one of the large operating tables.

He almost felt bad for Ironhide and Will...

They had no idea what they were in for.


End file.
